Melbourne considering shifting its base to MCG on back of AFL-sponsored plan

MELBOURNE will explore reuniting its football department and administration at the MCG on the back of an AFL-sponsored plan.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 18: Peter Jackson club CEO, coach Paul Roos, assistant coach Simon Goodwin and club President Glen Bartlett pose for the media after a Melbourne Demons AFL press conference at Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 18, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

MELBOURNE will explore reuniting its football department and administration at the MCG.

The idea has come on the back of an AFL-sponsored plan for Cricket Victoria and the St Kilda Football Club to share a new training centre at the Junction Oval.

The space now used by cricket at the MCG could quickly be turned into an elite training centre by the league’s oldest club at its traditional home ground.

The club, which currently shares AAMI Park with Melbourne Victory (A-League), Melbourne Rebels (Super Rugby) and Melbourne Storm (NRL), could use nearby Gosch’s Paddock for some training sessions, but arrangements for full team training sessions would need to be worked out.

Melbourne is the only Victorian club not to have a purpose-built training centre, a situation sports minister Damian Drum told the Herald Sun must be fixed.

Other training base options have been mooted for Melbourne, with a partnership with Melbourne University or a share arrangement with golf at Elsternwick Park remaining live possibilities.

But the MCG option fits with Dees president Glen Bartlett’s previous statements about the club needing a greater visible presence in its heartland, and would allow the Demons to maximise their ties with the Melbourne Cricket Club.

Bartlett would not comment directly on a possible football department move to the MCG, but said “facilities will always be part of our strategic agenda due to the long term and ongoing nature of our requirements”.

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“We have world-class training facilities at AAMI and the benefits of our administration at the MCG, however if an opportunity presented itself that had better commercial outcomes and met all of our football needs we would of course consider it.”.

The joint cricket-football Junction Oval plan faces a funding shortfall of more than $20 million, although the Napthine state government is expected to up its $10m pledge before November’s state election.

The Labor opposition last night told the Herald Sun it, too, was in talks with the AFL and cricket authorities regarding the Junction Oval.

The Demons move could happen even if the Junction Oval plan reverts to a cricket-only project, which has been costed at about $40m.

Drum said Melbourne needed to be next cab off the rank in establishing a proper home base.

“We understand their situation is less than ideal with part of their club administration separate from the football administration,” he said.

“Sharing the underneath of AAMI Stadium with a rugby league, Rugby union code, and a soccer code works well in many instances — the pool, the gym — but there are times when I think (four) could be a crowd.

“I have full confidence that if we were sitting here in 2-3 years time, that’s exactly what we’d be talking about. We’d be talking about another inner-city venue for Melbourne to take them home.”

The Demons are set to announce a small profit this year, thanks in part to the signing of new sponsors.

Originally published as Melbourne considering shifting its base to MCG on back of AFL-sponsored plan